It is well known, particularly among those skilled in the art of merchandising, that manufacturers often provide retailers with various types of point-of-purchase displays. The point-of-purchase displays are usually designed to attractively and strategically display a product. However, sometimes the point-of-purchase displays are cumbersome and time-consuming to assemble. As a result, a number of displays and/or products are damaged due to incorrect display assembly. Other times, assembly of more complex point-of-purchase displays is delayed or even dispensed with at the retail level for various reasons such as time constraints on the retailer's employees.
In view of such problems, efforts have been made in the past to fashion point-of-purchase displays that are relatively simpler for employees at the retail level to assemble. One example is set forth in U.S. Pat. No. 5,979,662 to Green and shown herein as FIG. 1. The prior art shown in FIG. 1 is a packaging assembly 100 that includes a display stand 110, a plurality of display packs 120, and a shipping cover 130. Each display pack 120 is configured to contain one or more packaged products 140 for both shipping and display. The display stand 110 includes left and right sides 150L and 150R that extend parallel to each other. Each of the left and right sides 150L and 150R include a plurality of slots 160. As shown in FIG. 1, slots 160 in the left side 150L are generally aligned with respective slots 160 in the right side 150R. Each of the display packs 120 is provided with a peripheral flange 170, portions of which can be inserted into a respective pair of opposing slots 160 so that the pair of slots 160 provides support for the display pack 120.
The packaging assembly 100 shown in FIG. 1 is shipped to retailers with the display packs 120 packed in the display stand 110 such that portions of the peripheral flange 170 of each display pack 120 are inserted into respective opposing slots 160, and the combination of the display stand 110 and the packed display packs 120 packed into a cavity defined by the inside of the shipping cover 130. This way, when the packaging assembly 100 arrives at the various retailers and the shipping cover 130 is removed, the combination of the display stand 110 and the display packs 120 can serve as a point-of-purchase display.
However, despite the relatively short amount of time required for transforming the packaging assembly 100 from a shipping container to a product display, there are still several disadvantages associated with such an assembly. For example, often product displays such as the combination of the display stand 110 and the display packs 120 initially have a neat and orderly appearance only to quickly become disarrayed once exposed to consumers. Many consumers browse, removing products such as the display packs 120 from displays such as the display stand 110, briefly view the contents or packaging of the products, then return the products to the displays without taking the time to do things such as align flanges with slots. Instead, the products will be left in a manner that is easy for the consumer, such as stacked or leaning on one another. Other times, displays are damaged when consumers attempt such things as forcing a misaligned product back into a display. For example, attempting to force a misaligned display pack 120 can permanently damage slots 160 and/or sides 150 of the display stand 110. Furthermore, in any situation where the display stand 110 happens to become damaged, the peripheral flange 170 of the display packs 120 makes it difficult for a retailer to easily find an alternate location, such as a counter top or a surface of a shelf, for displaying the products.